Aleix Espargaro offered his first explanation of the incident with Franco Morbidelli while lying with his stricken leg in plaster.
The Aprilia rider ended Saturday at the Qatar MotoGP with a fractured fibula due to a collision with Miguel Oliveira, and €10,000 out of pocket for slapping Morbidelli on the helmet.
Morbidelli insisted that the FIM Stewards’ decision to fine Espargaro, and hit him with a six-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race (if he is passed fit to compete) is not enough.
Espargaro disagreed.
He said via social media, according to AS: “A bad day, here I am with my leg up.
“The truth is that it has been a day to forget.
“First with the incident with Morbidelli, in which I obviously had a very bad reaction.
“He was walking around the track, I almost crashed twice for going in the middle of the track.
“Then he wouldn’t let me get back on the track and I lost my temper, obviously, with a totally excessive reaction.
“And that’s why I received a sanction. From my point of view it is too much, but I accept it because the image is not good.”
Morbidelli angrily accused Espargaro of “disrespect”.
Espargaro addressed the clash with Oliveira in the sprint race which resulted in both riders emerging with injuries.
“In the race I had a very good pace,” he said.
“We had a good weekend, but starting from behind there can always be trouble.
“Oliveira hit me very, very hard in Turn 6 and I went flying.
“I have had a fissure in the head of my fibula that now hurts a lot.
“These are things that can happen.
“This year Miguel has been thrown quite a few times, but today he threw me.
“He has apologised to me. He also has damage.
“The situation in general makes me feel bad and it’s a shame.
“I will try to sleep today and try tomorrow, but it will be difficult because it hurts a lot, but tomorrow we will see how I wake up.”
Keyword: Aleix Espargaro’s first words on Franco Morbidelli incident at Qatar MotoGP: “Bad reaction, sanction is too much…”